Overview:

High-energy photon-nucleon (nucleus) collisions offer us a unique opportunity to study the hadron and photon structure, QCD dynamics and small Bjorken-x gluon dynamics at photon intensities and energies that are unavailable elsewhere. These interactions can already be studied in a wide energy range from W ~10 GeV (RHIC Au-Au) to W ~ 500 GeV (LHC Pb-Pb) using ultraperipheral collisions at hadronic colliders. Because of this, UPC studies serve as a forerunner of the Electron Ion Collider (EIC) experiments. The top of this energy range is a factor of ten higher than that of the EIC, which offers a unique opportunity to explore this novel kinematic regime. At the same time, UPC collisions at RHIC and LHC have their own limitations, since it is not possible to study the Q² dependence systematically for most physics processes of interest. The viability of photon-induced physics analysis has been demonstrated at RHIC and LHC. Despite the recent experimental progress, work on the theoretical side is clearly not at a similar level to that of inclusive hard scattering. The goal of this workshop is to identify and discuss the theoretical challenges of photon-induced physics, and how to use this knowledge for physics studies at the EIC.

The conference will start on Monday, February 13, and end on Friday, February 17. It will cover a broad range of topics including:

• Current status of nuclear PDFs and developments using photon-nucleus data
• Strategies for observing nonlinear and gluon saturation effects in photon - nucleus scattering
• Progress in understanding heavy quark hadronization in exclusive processes.
• Models for coherent and incoherent soft photon - nucleon / nucleus interactions
• Predictions of the leading twist models, dipole models and CGC models for exclusive gamma-p and gamma A scattering.
• Exotic spectroscopy and searches for new physics

The focus will be on theoretical and experimental progresses that assess the physics of photon-hadron collisions. We expect to limit the participation to about 35 participants.

Tentative Program Format:

We plan to have about 10 invited talks that include 5 review style talks and 5 focused talks on recent progress.

Depending on the number of applicants and time available, some short talks may be scheduled. All applicants will have a chance to present their results and ideas. In addition, there may be a panel discussion on a specialized topic. It is also our intention to have time set aside for discussions related to the talks if necessary.

09:00 am - 10:00 am Review Talk (45 mins + 15 mins)
10:00 am - 10:15 am Coffee Break
10:15 am - 11:00 am Focus Talk (30 mins + 15 mins)
11:00 am - 11:45 am Focus Talk (30 mins + 15 mins)
11:45 am - 02:00 pm Lunch Break
02:00 pm - 02:30 pm Contributed Talk (20mins + 10 mins)
02:30 pm - 03:00 pm Contributed Talk (20mins + 10 mins)
03:00 pm - 03:15 pm Coffee Break
03:15 pm - 03:45 pm Contributed Talk (20mins + 10 mins)
03:45 pm - 04:30 pm Discussion Time 45 mins

There will be a $45 registration fee to attend this workshop. The registration fee includes participation in the workshop, lectures, and coffee breaks.